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No. 1 Ohio State goes on the road this week to face No. 4 Texas, in what's expected to be one of the biggest college football games of the 2026 season. One Buckeye that could see reps is true freshman receiver Chris Henry Jr., who is the son of former NFL wide receiver Chris Henry.
The Ohio State freshman also has a connection to his father's former NFL teammate, Adam "Pacman" Jones.
Here's everything you need to know about Henry Jr., his late father and they are linked to one another.
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Who is Chris Henry Jr.'s dad?
Chris Henry Jr.'s dad is former NFL wide receiver Chris Henry. A former fifth-round pick from the 2005 NFL Draft, Henry spent five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. As a rookie in 2005, he played in 14 games for the Bengals, accounting for 31 receptions for 422 yards and six touchdowns. His second season was ever more successful, getting 605 yards with nine touchdowns, averaging 16.8 yards per catch.
But during his rookie season, off-the-field issues began to surface. In Dec. 2005, he was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to avoid any jail time and completed a 28-day rehab program. Former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis sat Henry in a game against Detroit following his arrest.
In Jan. 2006, he was arrested on possible felony gun charges for allegedly possessing a firearm outside of a nightclub in Orlando, Fla. He was arrested again in June that same year for speeding and a suspected OVI in Ohio.
In Sept. 2006, Bengals star linebacker Odell Thurman was arrested for a DUI, and Henry was in the backseat when the arrest occurred. Lewis benched Henry during Cincinnati's game against the Patriots the following week.
At the beginning of the 2007 season, Henry was suspended eight games for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy stemming from his arrests. He was suspended indefinitely from the NFL in June 2008, following his fifth arrest in over three years, stemming from assault charges, as a man accused him of punching him in the face and breaking his car window.
He was released by the Bengals but re-signed ahead of the 2009 season. He played in just eight games for Cincinnati, catching 12 passes for two touchdowns. Across his Bengals career, he accounted for 119 receptions for 1,826 yards and 21 touchdowns.
In December 2009, Henry passed away after falling from the bed of a moving truck driven by his fiancee, Loleini Tonga. He was just 29 years old. The investigation found that Henry passed away from blunt force trauma to the head, but investigators found that Tonga was not driving recklessly or with excessive speed.
At the time, Henry and his fiance shared three children, including Chris Henry Jr., and his daughter, Seini and DeMarcus. His daughter, Seini, now plays volleyball at OSU.
After his death in 2010, West Virginia's Brain Injury Research Institute released a report stating that Henry had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) throughout his career. The diagnosis of CTE was later confirmed via autopsy.
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Who raised Chris Henry Jr.?
Henry Jr. was raised by his mother, Loleini, but Henry's former West Virginia teammate, Adam "Pacman" Jones also had a hand in raising Henry's two sons. Henry's children would see Jones often, at Thanksgiving and trips to Cincinnati.
In fact, Jones and his wife, Tishana became legal guardians of Henry's two sons, Chris and DeMarcus in 2021, nearly 12 years after the death of their father. Jones did so in cooperation with the boys' mother, Loleini. Via a story from The Athletic in 2023:
When Jones saw Slim’s two boys growing into their own without their father there to guide them — and starting to garner some serious attention from college programs — he knew they needed a voice in their ear. He’d stayed in touch over the years, checking in with their mother and hauling the boys to football camps, sending them endless boxes of Nike and Under Armour gear.
Still, he told himself, Slim would’ve wanted more. So Pac called.
“Y’all need to uproot and move up here with us,” he urged Loleini Tonga, the boys’ mother. “We’ll help you out.”
Henry Jr. would have been around 14 years old at the time of the adoption. Jones also has three children of his own.
He attended high school in Ohio before transferring to Mater Dei in Santa Ana, Calif for his last year.
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Adam Pacman Jones relationship with Chris Henry
Jones and Henry played together at West Virginia in 2003 and 2004, and the two became close friends. Jones spent 12 seasons in the NFL from 2005-2018.
“Everyone know me and Chris was best friends in college,” Jones told Shannon Sharpe via Cincy Jungle in 2021. “I’m still close with his whole entire family. I’m still close with Loleini... we’re inseparable. We’ve been working on this for three-[to]-four years, and we finally got it done like six, seven months ago.”
Jones did end up playing eight seasons for the Bengals, but he arrived to the team in 2010, after Henry's death.
“For me, it’s heartwarming, because I know my man up there is sitting up there smiling like ‘man I really appreciate you man.’” Jones added of adopting Henry's sons.
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Where did Chris Henry go to college?
Henry went to West Virginia University from 2002-2004, where he played under former and now-current Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez. Across his last two seasons at WVU, he accounted for 1,878 yards with 22 touchdowns.
During his sophomore season in 2003, he was ejected during a game against Rutgers after receiving multiple unsportsmanlike penalties. Coach Rodriguez called Henry "an embarrassment to himself and the program" for the behavior.
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